A Spectroscopic Analysis of Blue Stragglers, Horizontal Branch Stars, and Turnoff Stars in Four Globular Clusters (original) (raw)
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Blue Stragglers: Spectra of Globular Clusters
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2009
The integrated Balmer lines of unresolved stellar systems have been widely used as age indicators, since they are sensitive to the temperature of the main sequence turn-off. However, the existence of “non-canonical” stellar stages such as hot horizontal branch stars and blue straggler stars (BSSs) can lead to underestimations of the true stellar population ages. Using an optimized Hβ index in conjunction with HST/WFPC2 color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), we find that Galactic globular clusters of similar metallicity exhibit a large scatter in their Hβ strengths, which does not correlate with their CMD-derived ages. Instead, we demonstrate that the specific frequency of BSSs is responsible for the observed Hβ scatter at intermediate-to-high metallicity, in the sense that, at fixed metallicity, higher BSS ratios lead to larger integrated Hβ strengths. Therefore, the specific frequency of BSSs sets a fundamental limit on the accuracy for which integrated spectroscopic ages can be determin...
HST observations of blue straggler stars in the core of the globular cluster M3
The core of the Galactic Globular Cluster M 3 (NGC 5272) has been observed with the WFPC2 through the filters F 255W , F 336W , F 555W , and F 814W. Using these observations along with a thorough reanalysis of earlier catalogs, we have produced a catalog of blue straggler stars (BSS) spanning the cluster. Earlier studies and the fainter part of our sample suffer severe selection biases. Our analysis is based on a more reliable bright global sample of 122 BSS. We confirm earlier suggestions that the radial BSS distribution in M 3 is bimodal. It is strongly peaked in the center, has a clear dip 100-200 from the center, and rises again at larger radii. The observed distribution agrees with the dynamical model of Sigurdsson et al. (1994) which takes into account both star collisions and merging of primordial binaries for the origin of BSS. The observed luminosity functions of BSS in the inner and outer parts of the cluster are different. Interpreting these using the models of Bailyn & Pinsonneault (1995), we suggest that the BSS in the inner cluster are formed by stellar collisions and those in the outer cluster from merging primordial binaries.
2013
We present the first dynamical study of Blue Straggler Stars (BSSs) in three Galactic globular clusters, NGC 3201, NGC 5139 (ωCen), and NGC 6218, based on medium-resolution spectroscopy (R 10000) obtained with IMACS. Our BSS candidate selection technique uses HST/ACS and ESO/WFI photometric data out to >4.5 r_c. We use radial velocity measurements to discard non-members and achieve a success rate of ∼93%, which yields a sample of 116 confirmed BSSs. Using the penalized pixel fitting method (pPXF) we measure the vsin(i) values of the sample BSSs and find their distribution functions peaked at slow velocities with a long tail towards fast velocities in each globular cluster. We find that the BSSs in NGC 3201 and NGC 6218 which show vsin(i)>50 km s^-1 are all found in the central cluster regions, inside a projected 2 r_c, of their parent clusters. We find a similar result in ωCen for BSSs with vsin(i)>70 km s^-1 which are all, except for two, concentrated inside 2 r_c. In all ...
Blue Straggler Stars in the Unusual Globular Cluster NGC 6388
Astrophysical Journal, 2008
We have used multi-band high resolution HST WFPC2 and ACS observations combined with wide field ground-based observations to study the blue straggler star (BSS) population in the galactic globular cluster NGC 6388. As in several other clusters we have studied, the BSS distribution is found to be bimodal: highly peaked in the cluster center, rapidly decreasing at intermediate radii, and rising again at larger radii. In other clusters the sparsely populated intermediate-radius region (or ``zone of avoidance'') corresponds well to that part of the cluster where dynamical friction would have caused the more massive BSS or their binary progenitors to settle to the cluster center. Instead, in NGC 6388, BSS still populate a region that should have been cleaned out by dynamical friction effects, thus suggesting that dynamical friction is somehow less efficient than expected. As by-product of these observations, the peculiar morphology of the horizontal branch (HB) is also confirmed. In particular, within the (very extended) blue portion of the HB we are able to clearly characterize three sub-populations: ordinary blue HB stars, extreme HB stars, and blue hook stars. Each of these populations has a radial distribution which is indistinguishable from normal cluster stars.
Another Nonsegregated Blue Straggler Population in a Globular Cluster: the Case of NGC 2419
The Astrophysical Journal, 2008
We have used a combination of ACS-HST high-resolution and wide-field SUB-ARU data in order to study the Blue Straggler Star (BSS) population over the entire extension of the remote Galactic globular cluster NGC 2419. The BSS population presented here is among the largest ever observed in any stellar system, with more than 230 BSS in the brightest portion of the sequence. The radial distribution of the selected BSS is essentially the same as that of the other cluster stars. In this sense the BSS radial distribution is similar to that of ω Centauri and unlike that of all Galactic globular clusters studied to date, which have highly centrally segregated distributions and, in most cases, a pronounced upturn in the external regions. As in the case of ω Centauri, this evidence indicates that NGC 2419 is not yet relaxed even in the central regions. This observational fact is in agreement with estimated half-mass relaxation time, which is of the order of the cluster age.
The Small Blue Straggler Star Population in the Dense Galactic Globular Cluster NGC 6752
The Astrophysical Journal, 2004
We have used high resolution WFPC2-HST and wide field ground-based observations to construct a catalog of blue straggler stars (BSS) which spans the entire radial extent of the globular cluster NGC 6752. The BSS sample is the most extensive ever obtained for this cluster. Though NGC 6752 is a high density cluster with a large binary population, we found that its BSS content is surprisingly low: the specific number of BSS is among the lowest ever measured in a cluster. The BSS distribution is highly peaked in the cluster center, shows a rapid decrease at intermediate radii, and finally rises again at larger distances. This distribution closely resembles those observed in M3 and 47Tuc by . To date, BSS surveys covering the central regions with HST and the outer regions with wide field CCD ground-based observations have been performed for only these three clusters. Despite the different dynamical properties, -2a bimodal radial distribution has been found in each. A detailed comparison of observed BSS luminosity and temperature distributions with theoretical models reveals a population of luminous, hot BSS which is not easily interpreted.
Variable Blue Straggler Stars in Open Cluster NGC 6819 Observed in the Kepler 'Superstamp' Field
arXiv (Cornell University), 2023
NGC 6819 is an open cluster of age 2.4 Gyr that was in the NASA Kepler spacecraft field of view from 2009 to 2013. The central part of the cluster was observed in a 200 x 200 pixel 'superstamp' during these four years in 30-minute cadence photometry, providing a unique long time-series high-precision data set. The cluster contains 'blue straggler' stars, i.e., stars on the main sequence above the cluster turnoff that should have left the main sequence to become red giants. We present light curves and pulsation frequency analyses derived from custom photometric reductions for five confirmed cluster members-four blue stragglers and one star near the main-sequence turnoff. Two of these stars show a rich spectrum of δ Scuti pulsation modes, with 236 and 124 significant frequencies identified, respectively, while two stars show mainly low-frequency modes, characteristic of γ Doradus variable stars. The fifth star, a known active x-ray binary, shows only several harmonics of two main frequencies. For the two δ Scuti stars, we use a frequency separation-mean-density relation to estimate mean density, and then use this value along with effective temperature to derive stellar mass and radius. For the two stars showing low frequencies, we searched for period-spacing sequences that may be representative of gravity-mode or Rossby-mode sequences, but found no clear sequences. The common age for the cluster members, considered along with the frequencies, will provide valuable constraints for asteroseismic analyses, and may shed light on the origin of the blue stragglers.
Binary stars in open clusters are very useful targets in constraining the nucleosynthesis process. The luminosities of the stars are known because the distances of the clusters are also known, so chemical peculiarities can be linked directly to the evolutionary status of a star. In addition, binary stars offer the opportunity to verify a relationship between them and the straggler population in both globular and open clusters. We carried out a detailed spectroscopic analysis to derive the atmospheric parameters for 16 red giants in binary systems and the chemical composition of 11 of them in the open clusters NGC 2360, NGC 3680, and NGC 5822. We obtained abundances of C, and Nd. The atmospheric parameters of the studied stars and their chemical abundances were determined using high-resolution optical spectroscopy. We employ the local thermodynamic equilibrium model atmospheres of Kurucz and the spectral analysis code moog. The abundances of the light elements were derived using the spectral synthesis technique. We found that the stars NGC 2360-92 and 96, NGC 3680-34, and NGC 5822-4 and 312 are yellow straggler stars. We show that the spectra of NGC 5822-4 and 312 present evidence of contamination by an A-type star as a secondary star. For the other yellow stragglers, evidence of contamination is given by the broad wings of the Hα. Detection of yellow straggler stars is important because the observed number can be compared with the number predicted by simulations of binary stellar evolution in open clusters. We also found that the other binary stars are not s-process enriched, which may suggest that in these binaries the secondary star is probably a faint main-sequence object. The lack of any s-process enrichment is very useful in setting constraints for the number of white dwarfs in the open cluster, a subject that is related to the birthrate of these kinds of stars in open clusters and also to the age of a cluster. Finally, rotational velocities were also determined and their values were compared with those already determined for field giant stars.
The Astrophysical Journal, 2008
We used a proper combination of multiband high-resolution and wide field multi-wavelength observations collected at three different telescopes (HST, LBT and CFHT) to probe Blue Straggler Star (BSS) populations in the globular cluster M53. Almost 200 BSS have been identified over the entire cluster extension. The radial distribution of these stars has been found to be bimodal (similarly to that of several other clusters) with a prominent dip at ∼ 60 ′′ (∼ 2r c ) from the cluster center. This value turns out to be a factor of two smaller than the radius of avoidance (r avoid , the radius within which all the stars of ∼ 1.2 M ⊙ have sunk to the core because of dynamical friction effects in an Hubble time). While in most of the clusters with a bimodal BSS radial distribution, r avoid has been found to be located in the region of the observed minimum, this is the second case (after NGC6388) where this discrepancy is noted. This evidence suggests that in a few clusters the dynamical friction seems to be somehow less efficient than expected.